Bath fire department to cut ribbon Jan. 26
By ROB PRICE THE COURIER-ADVOCATE

PHOTO BY ROB PRICE The Bath Volunteer Fire Department's new station is due to receive its certificate of occupancy from the Bath village codes office.

BATH - The Bath Volunteer Fire Department has scheduled an official ribbon cutting ceremony for Jan. 26 to inaugurate its new fire station on West Morris Street.

Construction crews for RJ Taylor, of Rochester, have been working since late 2006 on the 18,000-square-foot building, which will replace the fire department's 27- year-old fire station on Liberty Street.

Fire Chief Mark Conrad last week said workers were in the final stages of installing flooring and the kitchen, and the fire department expects to receive its certificate of occupancy from the Bath village codes office sometime this week. Volunteers will continue working to transfer equipment and documents from the old fire station into the new facility.

Conrad said the $2-million fire station will allow the department to operate more efficiently and provide easier access to village streets. The current fire station has access only to a narrow alley that opens onto Liberty Street.

The new station, Conrad noted, is a single-story structure and uses state-of-theart technologies, including wireless and computerized communications. Built-in showers will allow members

Built-in showers will allow members to wash up after fires; the station also has cleaning equipment for firefighters' gear that Conrad said will prolong the efficiency and use of the equipment.

The project continues to be scrutinized by the state Department of Labor, which last year warned state law may require prevailing wage payments for labor costs. The fire department responded that prevailing wages would add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the cost of the project and were not necessary because public funds were not involved in the project.

A Labor Department spokesman recently advised The Courier the state agency continues to review the situation.

In a separate development, Conrad last week announced the fire department has won a nearly $82,000 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that will pay for 35 sets of firefighting gear and an air compressor to refill air tanks firefighters wear during fires.

The compressor also will allow the department to refill a portable cascading air supply system at the fire station and allow the department to replenish other fire departments' air supplies at the Bath station.